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fully. "You have said also that you are a man grown, and it is true, and when there is danger you will know how to protect yourself. But Geoffrey is not a man grown. It is him I fear for. Ian, look again at this letter. Look at the meaning under the words. Think what thatthat venomous worm was hoping, nay, urging Lord Gwenwynwyn to do. Think of the terms Gwenwynwyn offered Sir Peteryes, I have spoken to him already, and he has confessed the whole. Never mind that now, except that I do not think Sir Peter was lying to save himself." |
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Ian did not need to reread the letter, nor had he forgotten the terms Sir Peter described. Gwenwynwyn had understood the king. Of course, he was no fool. His purposes would be better served by keeping Owain and Geoffrey alive, and he had tried to arrange that, but John's intention was nonetheless clear. Ian followed the track of Alinor's mind easily enough alsoexcept for not seeing that she was using Geoffrey as a lever to move him. Even if he had seen it, that would have made no difference. Wherever they were in England, John's hate would follow Ian and Geoffrey would die with him. |
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"But why?" he breathed sickly. |
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Alinor understood the question. "Because Salisbury loves the boy, and the love grows. And John is such a man that he cannot bear for Salisbury to love another." Color rose in her face. "As you know, my lord, I, too, have a jealous nature." |
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Ian dismissed that. Alinor might be jealous, but she was not foul. It was herself she had torn apart. She had not meant to hurt him, nor had she sought to find out who "the woman" was so that she could hurt her. |
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"Can it really benefit Geoffrey, to run with him?" Ian mused, as much to himself as to Alinor. |
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"Yes," she replied. "In two ways. The first you knowGeoffrey would be out of reach. The second is that Salisbury will not say his name with praise every other moment." |
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